It is known for an automotive glass windowpane retainer to include glass run channels that mount in a vehicle doorframe and slidably receive the side edges of windowpanes. The channels guide reciprocal and generally vertical movement of the windowpanes driven by a cable, tape or lift arm-type regulator operatively connected to a lower edge of the windowpane. (A cable or tape type regulator is shown schematically at 8 in FIG. 1 in the drawings and a lift arm-type regulator is shown schematically at 9 in FIG. 1.) It is desirable for windowpane retainers of this type to include some means for preventing a windowpane from moving laterally within the channels and possibly cocking in the doorframe such that an upper corner of the windowpane is pulled out of a channel. For this reason, prior art retainers have included features that attempt to minimize such movement.
For example, the windowpane retainer design 10 used in General Motors 1986 "A" body vehicles and 1988 "W" body vehicles (the GM A&W retainer design) and shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in the drawings, includes a glass windowpane 11 and an elongated windowpane retainer 12. The windowpane retainer 12 is fixed to the windowpane 11 along one side edge 14 of the windowpane in the 1986 "A" body design 16 and along two opposing side edges 14, 18 of the windowpane 11 in the 1988 "W" body design 20 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the windowpane retainer 12 includes a pair of elongated retainer detent surfaces 22 that extend from a base end 24 of the retainer 12 in opposite directions generally perpendicular to respective interior and exterior pane surfaces 26, 28 of the windowpane 11. The 1986 "A" body design 16 includes a pin guide or glass run channel 30 that includes an elongated interior metal substrate or guide channel portion 32 having a generally U-shaped cross-section. The 1988 "W" body design 20 includes two glass run channels 30. The glass run channel 30 is shaped to fit within an elongated channel receptacle 34 in an automotive doorframe 36. Two elongated recesses 36 are formed along opposing sidewalls 38 of the glass run channel 30 and are shaped and positioned to engage two opposing doorframe return flanges 40 or hems that extend into the recesses 36 from side walls 42 of the channel receptacle 34. Engagement of the doorframe return flanges 40 in the glass run channel sidewall recesses 36 retains the glass run channel 30 within the channel receptacle 34 of the doorframe 36. The glass run channel 30 slidably retains the windowpane retainer 12 to permit vertical reciprocal movement of the windowpane 11. The glass run channel 30 includes integral elongated spring-back elements 44 that integrally extend from along a base wall 46 of the glass run channel 30. The spring-back elements 44 engage a receptacle base wall 48 of the channel receptacle 34 and serve to bias the glass run channel 30 away from the receptacle base wall 48. The glass run channel 30 also includes elongated seal flaps 50 that extend integrally inward toward each other from the channel sidewalls 38 and press against and sealingly engage the respective inner and outer windowpane surfaces 26, 28. The glass run channel 30 also includes a pair of elongated channel flanges 52 that extend diagonally inward toward the base wall 46 of the glass run channel 30 from opposite walls of the metal substrate 32 that lines the base wall 46 and side walls 38 of the channel 30. The channel flanges 52 extend diagonally inward so that, upon insertion of the retainer 12 during assembly, the flanges 52 will bend away from each other when engaged by the base 24 of the retainer 12. The channel flanges 52 then snap into engagement with the respective retainer detent surfaces 22 to resist lateral extraction of the windowpane retainer 12. However, a glass windowpane retainer assembly constructed according to the GM A&W retainer design cannot laterally retain a side edge 14 of an automotive windowpane 11 without gluing the retainer 12 to the side edge 14.
In addition, windowpane retainer designs such as that shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 in the drawings are known to have been used by a number of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) including General Motors. This type of retainer design 54 includes an elongated cam or pin guide 56 supported on a doorframe 58 and a slider 60 slidably supported in the cam guide 56 for reciprocal motion parallel to the cam guide 56. This retainer assembly 54 also includes a beauty button 62 connected to the slider 60 by a pin 64 that extends through a hole 66 formed in a glass windowpane 68. The beauty button 62, pin 64, slider 60 and cam guide 56 support the windowpane 68 against lateral motion while allowing reciprocal motion parallel to the cam guide 56. However, while this type of retainer provides rigid retention against lateral windowpane movement, it is difficult to conceal the beauty button, pin and slider without adding a wide "black out area" 70 as shown in FIG. 3.
What is needed is a glass windowpane retainer assembly that laterally retains a side edge of an automotive windowpane without adhering any structures to the glass, penetrating or marking the glass or adding a "black out area" to conceal aesthetically disruptive retainer structures.